Orta the Broken Mountain is the Azj-Kahet World Boss in The War Within

The War Within Season 1 begins the week of September 10, and with the opening of Nerub-ar Palace also arrives the opportunity to kill a World Boss. As in Dragonflight and Shadowlands the first tier of TWW has four World Bosses on rotation, one in each of the leveling zones, and for Azj-Kahet it will be Orta the Broken Mountain. Fortunately there remain no mechanic drops similar to the older expansion’s Legendary Memories so players won’t have to worry about missing out on something important (besides the chance of loot) if they skip a week. As usual the World Bosses drop items that are ilevel-equivalent to the Normal difficulty of the concurrent raid, although with the more staggered ilevels in Palace it should be noted that World Boss drops are i603, or equivalent to the middle bosses of the raid. They can also be upgraded, starting at Champion 3/8.

Orta the Broken Mountain resembles previous fights we’ve had such as Kormrok in Hellfire Citadel or Kromog in Blackrock Foundry, with runes and plenty of slamming action. One thing that is important to be aware of is the fact that Orta’s location in the Old Sacrificial Pit of the City of Threads is above an insta-death area, so falling or being thrown into the gaps surrounding the platform will kill you. Runes should be avoided as they will stun when triggered — if this wasn’t a world boss I’d suggest controlled detonation like in similar encounters, but it’s likely best just to avoid them entirely. Tectonic Roars is a raidwide AOE that will knock you back so positioning while it’s being cast is likely important. Finally Orta will grasp and squeeze nearby players at interval and then throw them away once they’re considered a “weakling”; it’s not known whether this means at below a specific health percentage or after a certain amount of time.

The Old Sacrificial Pit is well-named

Orta the Broken Mountain is located in the western end of the City of Threads in the Old Sacrificial Pit, and is an easy flight over from the Weaver’s Lair. Because where he’s located is absent of other NPCs you don’t need to worry about your current progress in the zone or whether you are buffed with pheromones. As already mentioned the area beneath the combat zone is instantly fatal, so don’t fall off the platform waiting for the fight to begin.

The gear that Orta drops matches the normal Palace appearance, so those looking to farm transmog as well as gear upgrades will want to take the time to down the boss. In addition to unlocking the normal look, upgrading from Champion 3/8 to 5/8 will unlock the heroic appearance as well. Unlike the Dragonflight first tier bosses, Orta drops two possible armor pieces for every class in addition to a ring that can drop for all characters:

• Ring is Critical Strike/Haste, with Critical Strike providing most of the secondary stats
• Cloth classes can get a Chest that matches the Priest appearance or a Belt that matches the Warlock set
• Leather classes have a chance at Legs that match the Demon Hunter set or Boots that match the Monk appearance
• Mail classes can receive a Chest that matches the Hunter appearance or Boots that match the Shaman set
• Plate classes have a chance at Legs that match the Death Knight set or a Belt that matches the Paladin appearance

As always defeating Orta the Broken Mountain counts as a World Quest with possible rewards of gold, Coffer Key shards (used for Delves), and Resonance Crystals.